Class AAA South Central Regional Semifinals Set

District 3’s best Class AAA wrestlers are competing at the South Central Regional in hopes of earning a return trip to the GIANT Center in two weeks. After one day of competition the Championship Semifinals are set to feature 45 State Ranked Wrestlers who are one win away from qualifying for the 2017 PIAA State Championships.

Fans are in for some big time matchups in the Semifinals including 13 matches that will feature two wrestlers each ranked Top 20 in the State. Kicking things off at 106 lbs. will be freshmen #8 Cole Wilson (Northeastern) and #13 Will Betancourt (Manheim Central) who will do battle for a spot in the Regional Finals. Both were among PA Power Wrestling’s Top Incoming Freshmen of 2017.

At 126 lbs. a meeting between two wrestlers ranked Top 5 in the State takes place when seniors #3 Chandler Olson (Shippensburg) and #5 Jake Cherry (Central Dauphin) face off in the Semifinals. It will be the first time in their careers that they meet with Olson being a 3x PIAA State Medalist and Cherry a 2x PIAA State Qualifier. At 138 lbs. two talented freshmen, #18 Clayton Ulrey (Lower Dauphin) and #19 Dylan Reinhert (Gettysburg), both survived close quarterfinal matches to advance into the Semifinals.

At 160 lbs. foes #5 Jonah Barley (Penn Manor) and #13 Quentin Milliken will meet in the District 3 Semifinals for the second straight season. Last year at 160 lbs. Milliken defeated Barley in the Semifinals (2-1). Barley went on to place 6th in the State while Milliken went (1-2). Expect a physical match between this pair as Milliken is looking to get back on track after being upset by rookie Luke Nichter (Chambersburg) in the Sectional Finals.

#5 Tommy O’Brien (Wilson) will take on junior #22 Ben Root (Solanco) in a match that should be close. O’Brien, a senior committed to Pitt, was a PIAA State Qualifier last season while Root fell one win shy placing sixth in the Region. Section rivals #8 Blake Barrick (Big Spring) and #11 Cole Forester (Shippensburg) meet for the third time this season as each are looking for their first trip to the PIAA State Tournament. The juniors wrestled in the finals of the Trojan Wars with Barrick winning in sudden victory (6-4 SV) and again in the Section 3 Finals with Barrick earning a narrow (2-1 UTB) win. Expect this match to go into overtime as well.

After narrowly surviving a quarterfinal bout with #22 Hunter Harnish (Lower Dauphin) returning PIAA State Medalist #4 Jesse Enck (Daniel Boone) will have his hands full in the semifinals. Enck, who placed seventh in the State last season at 220 lbs., is undefeated on the season (32-0) and will take on #8 Bryce Shields (Dallastown) in the semifinals. Shields was a PIAA State Qualifier a season ago at 195 lbs. and this season his only defeat is to top ranked #1 Brian Kennerly (Upper Darby). Enck won (1-0) in his first bout and (9-5) in overtime against Harnish in the quarters. Shields hasn’t made it out of the first period earning two falls both in under 2:00. 

The monster South Central bracket at 285 lbs. is not only the biggest wrestlers but some of the District’s best. All four of the semifinalists are ranked Top 11 in the State with returning State Qualifiers #6 Cameron Tinner (Shippensburg) and #8 Blaine Yinger (Northeastern) clashing on the top half. The last time these two wrestled was in the Trojan War finals where Tinner was the winner (6-4).

Below is a look at the pairings for the Semifinals and the most current State #Ranking listed. Matches in bold are can’t miss bouts! Full brackets are on the FloArena here!

 

106 lbs.

#4 Josiah Gehr (Cocalico) vs. Patrick DeMark (Cumberland Valley)

#8 Cole Wilson (Northeastern) vs. #13 Will Betancourt (Manheim Central)

 

113 lbs.

#11 JJ Wilson (Cedar Cliff) vs. Kayde Althouse (Cocalico)

#3 Dalton Rohrbaugh (Spring Grove) vs. #25 Cameron Terry (Ephrata)

 

120 lbs.

#3 Chris Wright (Central Dauphin) vs. Brandon Connor (Wilson)

#8 Zurich Storm (New Oxford) vs. Matthew McCann (Waynesboro)

 

126 lbs.

#2 Austin DeSanto (Exeter Township) vs. #21 Dalton Daugherty (Dallastown Area)

#3 Chandler Olson (Shippensburg) vs. #5 Jake Cherry (Central Dauphin)

 

132 lbs.

#4 Wyatt Long (Cumberland Valley) vs. Jake Meyer (Spring Grove)

#6 Andrew Wert (Central Dauphin) vs. Christian Schilling (Garden Spot)

 

138 lbs.

#5 Micha Hoffman (Northern York) vs. Gary Clark (Garden Spot)

#18 Clayton Ulrey (Lower Dauphin) vs. #19 Dylan Reinert (Gettysburg)

 

145 lbs.

#10 Tucker Brough (Big Spring) vs. Connor Finkey (Garden Spot)

#11 Cal Reichart (Cumberland Valley) vs. Pavel Dariychuk (Conestoga Valley)

 

152 lbs.

#5 Will Kaldes (Cumberland Valley) vs. #15 Matthew Danner (East Pennsboro)

#7 Brayden Willis (Mechanicsburg Area) vs. #14 Drake Brenize (Chambersburg)

 

160 lbs.

#5 Jonah Barley (Penn Manor) vs. #13 Quentin Milliken (Cumberland Valley)

#12 Luke Nichter (Chambersburg) vs. Jose Lao-Cooper (Manheim Township)

 

170 lbs.

#4 Tyler Bagoly (Exeter Township) vs. Donovan Ball (Cedar Cliff)

#5 Tommy O’Brien (Wilson) vs. #22 Ben Root (Solanco)

 

182 lbs.

#3 Drew Peck (Chambersburg Area) vs. #20 Brendan Shaffer (Lower Dauphin)

#13 Ben Maack (Governor Mifflin) vs. #19 Leo Higgins (Palmyra)

 

195 lbs.

#5 Jake Koser (Northern York) vs. #16 Ben Fromm (Cocalico)

#8 Blake Barrick (Big Spring) vs. #11 Cole Forrester (Shippensburg)

 

220 lbs.

#3 Francis Duggan (Cedar Cliff) vs. #19 Nathan Young (Spring Grove)

#4 Jesse Enck (Daniel Boone) vs. #8 Bryce Shields (Dallastown Area)

 

285 lbs.

#6 Cameron Tinner (Shippensburg) vs. #8 Blaine Yinger (Northeastern)

#5 Michael Wolfgram (Central York) vs. #11 Ryan Stewart (Warwick)